Epenesa...WOW

So I have covered hundreds of volleyball matches in my career, high school through club and college. I have uttered many names and phrases through this, but none have impacted a set/match/team/school like Epenesa.

Last year Kelli Lamberti was all-"everything" on her way to gatorade player of the year and 2010 ILL HS All star MVP along with many other honors and accolades. To this is the only comparasion that I am able to make.

However there is just something different about Epenesa this year. Whether its the light hearted demeanor, the down home team mindset, the constant smile and encouraging words or just her MAD skills to pummel a volleyball, Sam really has improved her game to another "Lamberti" level.

Lamberti had a name cast around her, especially with Colleen Smith as setter and great defense.

But Epenesa has a cast around her that works like poetry. the FLOW of the game last night was something of which one would read in a book or sonnet. They truly FLOW with one another. One player moves here, the other moves there and within the meter of the poem, the final piece of the play is brought out and BOOM, Kill by Epenesa.

The fluidity is something coach says is inspired by her team, and of course team capt. Sam E.

Coach said how there are times where practice will be over, but the girls want to go over rotations again, or run MORE drills. During a drill, Sam almost knocked coach Parker unconcious with a 5 foot line MONSTER kill. Sam stated is was the absolute perfect set. Coach just remembers the pain. So do most floor boards, and so does the hopes of most opposing players trying to block, or return a Sam E kill.

Throughout my time I have seen BIG kill zone players. The aforementioned Lamberti, the THOR hammer of Vonderhaar, and the kill switch of Lara Ontko. However Sam E has the consistency to hit the 10 foot line on a b-line angle unlike anything I have seen. Was it just the night? Was it the press / attention from us at SportsTownChicago? OR is the consistency just there.

We will find out as the season concludes and Edwardsville makes their way NORTH toward the state championships.

Great way to end the GO SOUTH SPORTS SERIES, with a Edwardsville EYE opening/widening win.

SportsTownChicago.com, WE'RE IN A LEAGUE OF OUR OWN